In a business there are following six core sets of disciplines you need to follow for a successful operation:

Research

Product Development

Marketing

Sales

Production & Delivery

Customer Services

Can you recall any business doing really well without all of the above components?

I seriously doubt it.

Social media business is no different. I think if any business wants to flourish in the crowded market place, should be good in all of the above core disciplines.

Sacrificing the importance of any single aspect mentioned above can ruin your whole business efforts.

For example if you are really good at research, product development, marketing, sales, production and not concentrating on providing high quality customer services then I would say you are putting your whole business at risk.

This is why running a business is not an easy thing to do.

Similarly if you are interested in social media business or want to increase leads for your business using social media you have to follow the following core disciplines of social media business.

Leaving or scarifying the quality of any of the following core pillars of social media business can affect your whole efforts.

#1 Listening

This should be your first step when jumping into social media business. It is like doing your research before starting any business.

You can listen to your target audience using many different tools such as:

Google Alerts

Twitter Search

Hootsuit

Radian 6

Listening can affect your results immensely because all of your upcoming actions will be based on your listening.

It will not help you, if you assume and try to solve their issues which they are not facing.

Therefore, listening to your customers on the social web will give you first hand information about the issues your customer’s are facing often in real time and will give you the chance to jump into it and provide the solutions.

For example:

You are running a Lebanese restaurant in London.

A tourist who doesn’t know a good local Lebanese restaurant, thanks to smart phones can seek help using social channels such as Twitter and in this case tourist can tweet to their network some thing like “any one knows any good Lebanese restaurant in London?”

If you have robust listening system in place you can immediately respond to that tweet, “hey we are a xyz Lebanese restaurant and running a special if you would like to try, here are the details (link to your website)”.

This is just a one example of many ways you can use social tools to listen to your customers in real time.

#2 Consistent Presence

This is another important fundamental of running any business.

You have to show up consistently depending on the business but often it is at least 5 days a week.

Can you run a business and show up whenever you like?

If yes, I would love to hear in the comments below.

In my opinion you can’t, majority of the businesses require consistent attention and certain things you need to do on a daily basis.

And this is the biggest mistake people do when they start social media business. They think they will start a social media business, create accounts, show up few days and that’s it.

Can you see my point?

You are free to use social media as you like but if you want business out of it then I am afraid you got treat it as a business.

#3 Quality

This is where it all gets really exited.

You listened to your customers and ready to be visible consistently on social network (s).

How can you provide quality help to your customers?

You can do this with “Content”.

This is why Michael Stelzner says in his book Launch (affiliate link) that content is the fuel of your social media rocket ship.

Without content your rocket ship cannot move forward.

Type of content you can share:

Blog posts

Videos

Pictures

Slides

Core element of any content you will be sharing is lot different than traditional marketing.

When sharing content with your network, you should not forget that people on social networks don’t like to be sold.

Yes, this is the reality and a challenge for you as a business.

But most businesses bombard people on social networks with their brochures, when they first start social media efforts.

You got to understand the culture of social web and need to learn how to take people from social networks to your blog or website to buy your stuff.

Are you ready to start social media business?

Feel free to share your experience or ask question in the comments below.

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Comments

I agree that all three (listening, consistent presence and quality) are needed to succeed in social media. It takes a lot of time and effort when done right, and the ROI can be invaluable. I think that if someone chose to do one or two of the above, s/he will end up wasting time and going in circles.

Agreed. Listening is very crucial for fostering customer engagement (thus increasing awareness and reach). I also like that you’ve set this up to show that focusing on any one area isn’t going to be the solution. We have to approach and treat a business as a whole. Very good stuff, Rana.

I think consistently is hugely important – and one of the most difficult to achieve. Most days it’s easier to shut my mouth and listen than it is to keep sharing brilliant, inspiring, funny, life changing insights.

I’m one of those who’s guilty of setting up multiple social media accounts, but not really utilizing them to their full potential. With so many platforms available, I think to be truly effective, one should really only concentrate on one social media platform. Sure, you might lose some connections because you’re on one but not on another, but once you gain real traction on one platform, that’s when you will have an advantage over competitors who only “dabble” in social media.

You have a valid point. Social media isn’t a traditional one-way marketing tool. It’s interactive and unless you treat it as such, you won’t get the benefits… I really liked your first example about the restaurant 🙂

Excellent points Rana – they are all so important for businesses using social media. Consistent presence is the one where I see most businesses fall down, particularly government depts (used to work for one in their social media section) and small businesses. It all becomes too much and they give up after only a couple of months there.
Picking one platform to start with is often the best way to overcome that sense of fatigue and not only stay consistent but also deliver quality.

Just as you have rightly and painstakingly acknowledged Rana, the effect that social media can have on your biz is so unquaifyable.
Most businesses online that are being kicked out as a results of Penguine and Panda update aftermaths are now taking solace from social media as rescue.

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About Rana Shahbaz

Rana is an Internet Marketing Consultant and the founder of All Marketing Solutions. I’m an Internet Marketing Consultant and the founder of All Marketing Solutions who is helping businesses to build better websites to rule the web. - See more at: http://www.ranashahbaz.com/about-rana#sthash.w8XhN2RG.dpuf Google+Read More…

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"The Future of Business is Social"
– Barry Libert, Author of Social Nation